A train derailed at Atlantic Terminal on Wednesday morning, sending straphangers flying and injuring 104, according to authorities.
The Long Island Rail Road train was pulling into the Prospect Heights stop at around 8:15 am carrying some 430 passengers but overshot the platform and crashed into the safety bumper — flinging commuters about as the two lead cars careened off the tracks, according to Office of Emergency Management spokesman Justin Bennett.
None of the injuries are life-threatening — a woman’s broken leg is the most serious malady, Gov. Cuomo said at a press conference after the crash.
“They were standing getting ready to get off the train, the train has a sudden stop, they’re not prepared for a sudden stop,” Cuomo said. “They get knocked around, banged around, they hurt an arm, they hurt a leg, etcetera.”
Emergency responders evacuated 11 people by stretcher, while the other wounded commuters were treated at the scene and were able to walk out of their own volition, according to Bennett.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is still investigating exactly what went wrong, and is interviewing the train’s conductor, engineer, and brakeman, according to agency honcho Tom Prendergast, but he said it is generally the engineer’s responsibility.
“It’s primarily the locomotive engineer’s responsibility to control the train,” he said. “There’s a signal system that controls it coming in at limited speeds. But when you’re getting to the end, it’s the locomotive engineer’s responsibility.”
Sleuths from the National Transportation Safety Board are also expected to conduct their own investigation, Bennett said.
